BELARUS CAN NO LONGER DISREGARD KARABAKH, SAYS BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT LUKASHENKO

Tert
Nov 12 2009
Armenia

Belarus can no longer disregard Transnistria (a breakaway
region in Moldova), Crimea (an autonomous republic of Ukraine)
and Nagorno-Karabakh, said Alexander Lukashenko. According to the
president of Belarus, those issues must be settled without mediators,
reports Russian news site GZT.

The Belarusian leader said that "very often in a friendly atmosphere,
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has been discussed by both former
and current Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents." However, as
Lukashenko stated, he hasn’t interfered directly in the course of
the debate. At the same time, Belarus never tried to take advantage
of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue and has never "made friends with one
to harm the other."

Nevertheless, Lukashenko admitted that Nagorno-Karabakh’s status is
a sort of Gordian Knot, and it’s time to untie it. But only Armenian
and Azerbaijani leaders can do this.

But the Belarusian president didn’t propose specific options of
settling the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status.

"In this case, he probably decided to demonstrate he isn’t a pawn
in the recognition of Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s independence,
that he will not allow Moscow to play a game at its expense. That
is an increase in geopolitical capitalization. But one shouldn’t
draw long-term conclusions based on these words by Lukashenko,"
said politician Sergey Markedonov.

Vice President of the Centre of Political Technologies, Sergey Mikheev,
is of another opinion. "It’s already a long time that Lukashenko is
angry with Russia and is discontent with the latter’s foreign policy,"
the politician stated.

As for the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, Lukashenko’s proposal, according
to the analyst, is just plain "senseless."